Last Thursday, Donovan told reporters he had spoken to a couple of teams about their coaching vacancies, but would not offer specifics.

At the SEC Spring Meetings, Donovan explained his reasoning for not guaranteeing he would return for a 19th season.

"I think when you start making guarantees about life and start making guarantees about where you're going to be, that's not good," he said. "If for some reason I ever change my mind and did something, I wouldn't want (people) saying, 'Well, he promised, he guaranteed, he said this on record.' I just think when you start doing that, that's a mistake.

"I've seen a lot of coaches over the years come out and say, 'No, no, no, no, I'm not going anywere, I'm not going anywhere,' and then all of a sudden they go somewhere and it's like, 'Well, this guy is a complete liar.' I don't want to get into that situation.